'Skill games' need close monitoring

Friday

Aug 29, 2014 at 12:01 AMAug 29, 2014 at 9:21 AM

Ohio has been here before, and it's apparently going there again: Now that Internet cafés are on the wane, "skill-games" parlors are popping up like weeds in strip malls and storefronts in towns of all sizes.

Ohio has been here before, and it’s apparently going there again: Now that Internet cafés are on the wane, “skill-games” parlors are popping up like weeds in strip malls and storefronts in towns of all sizes.

The Ohio Casino Control Commission is to be commended for doing what it can to keep these skill-games operators from proliferating and flouting the law, as they did during their height in 2006 and 2007. According to commission Director Matt Schuler, investigators have been looking into at least three dozen locations around the state: operators who claim they offer skill games but really have slot machines; or who pay out in cash, which is illegal; or whose prizes are worth more than the state-mandated $10 limit.

Games of skill, unlike slot machines, purportedly allow users to have some control over the outcome by letting them manipulate the machine in some way. That’s why they’re legal under Ohio law, with restrictions. The distinction between skill vs. luck was added into the 2003 state budget bills because Ohio lawmakers at the time didn’t want to outlaw innocent carnival games such as ring toss or skeeball. Little did they know the can of worms they were opening.

Now that the state has cracked down on Internet cafés, many operators have simply reclassified their offerings as skill games to avoid scrutiny.

So Ohio is counting on the casino commission, which has been given legal authority to regulate skill games in Ohio — but little statutory guidance on how that’s to be done.

The state Senate could help it out by giving consideration to House Bill 491, which passed the House in the spring by a vote of 83-2. It would give the commission power to license and manage skill-game operators. It clarifies the rules for everyone and allows the commission to more easily sort out the bad apples.

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